The New Orleans Saints have an interesting mix of high-profile starters and sleeper talents returning from injuries in 2023. We’re not counting new additions and rookie draft picks like running back Kendre Miller (meniscus) or others dealing with health challenges (such as tight end Foster Moreau), only players who were on the team last year and who have been brought back for the upcoming season.
Some of them are going to vital to the team’s overall success. Let’s recap each situation with organized team activities on the horizon:
1
Trevor Penning
Penning suffered a couple of setbacks in his rookie year, starting the season with a severe turf toe injury that required surgery and ending it with a Lisfranc fracture to the other foot. He’s recently shed his medical walking boot and is expected to compete for the starting job at left tackle in training camp.
2
Andrus Peat
Peat’s poor injury luck continued in 2022, when he went down with an ankle injury in the second-to-last game and wasn’t able to return for the finale. That’s after he was limited earlier in the season with an illness. He’s missed a lot of time with injuries over the years and the Saints modified his contract this offseason to set him up for free agency in 2024, so this might be the end of the line for him in New Orleans.
3
Cesar Ruiz
Ruiz also went down with a Lisfranc injury late last year but he’s already recovered well enough to no longer need a walking boot or medical scooter to get around, and he’s expected to be full-go for training camp. He’s facing a pivotal moment in his young career after the Saints chose to not exercise his fifth-year option for 2024, meaning he’ll be a free agent next March.
4
Michael Thomas
Thomas returned to play at a high level after missing most of two years with an ankle injury, only to suffer a dislocated toe in his other foot that cut his comeback campaign short. He’s on track to be cleared for training camp in July and Saints decision-makers like Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis have reiterated their confidence in his return to form.
5
Zack Baun
Baun continued to mainly play special teams last year, with veteran teammate Kaden Elliss surpassing him on the depth chart, and he had some strong moments in the kicking game covering punts and kickoffs — only for an unlucky ankle injury to end his year. The success Elliss found as a pass rusher was encouraging, as it’s what Baun was best at in college, so hopefully the Saints will give him those opportunities. He and Ruiz are the only remaining players from the Saints’ 2020 draft class.
6
D'Marco Jackson
Jackson is a real candidate to break out if he’s recovered from last summer’s training camp knee injury, which ended his rookie year before it could even really get off the ground. He was a very effective run defender in college at Appalachian State with plenty of special teams experience, so hopefully he’s healed up and ready to make the most of his opportunity behind Demario Davis.
7
Smoke Monday
Find someone who believes in you and wants you to succeed the way Saints fans want Monday to. Every conversation about the secondary depth and second-year pros has seen his name thrown into it, often purely off the strength of his name (which is admittedly very impressive). It’s unfortunate that Monday tore his ACL last summer. He needs to rebound and compete hard at a loaded position group with the Saints bringing in multiple veterans to push him.
